The Living Christ: The Extraordinary Lives of Today's Spiritual Heroes [Hardcover]

Harold Fickett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 2002

Is Jesus’ promise to live on through his believers true? Can we find the living Christ in today’s complicated, uneasy world? Harold Fickett explores these questions in The Living Christ, a journey throughout the world in search of individual Christians whose daily lives reflect different aspects of the resurrected Christ.

Fickett profiles a woman who rescues girls from prostitution in Thailand, a “trucker chaplain” in South Carolina, a visionary living on the California coast, an America priest who conducts a healing ministry in Mexico City, and others who carry out the work of Christ in difficult, sometimes desperate circumstances. Written with narrative flair and offering surprising theological insights, these real-life stories stimulate new and enlightening meditations on Jesus the Liberator, Wayfarer, Contemplative, Healer, and Martyr.

Like the writings of Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, and Philip Yancey, The Living Christ will appeal to all who seek a deeper spirituality.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This satisfying blend of first-class reporting and stirring inspirational writing has Texas-based journalist Fickett asking where Jesus can be found in contemporary culture. He looks beyond such obvious places as Sunday morning worship or the Jesus Seminar to discover Christ at work in the lives of men and women who are serving others at soup kitchens, orphanages and so on. He takes readers on a spiritual journey with six stops, from South Carolina to Mexico City to Iran, introducing a few special people who he feels manifest Christ's light. Ted Keller, a truckers' chaplain, helps lonely truck drivers find the companionship of Jesus. California visionary Barbara Matthias, a McDonald's worker to whom the Holy Family appears in ecstatic visions every day, is able to heal sick babies and pray estranged families back together. Lauran Bethell, a Baptist missionary in Thailand, helps rescue young girls from prostitution. In light of recent events, readers may find the last chapter, about three evangelical pastors recently martyred in Iran, "a story that involves the current conflict between Islamic fundamentalists and Christians," most captivating. In each chapter, Fickett, a self-described "Christian believer," uses the individual's story to meditate on a relevant slice of the life of Jesus. Jesus, like Keller, was a wayfarer, traveling dusty roads to spread his message; like Bethell, he was a liberator. Fickett's journalistic skill will satisfy readers' minds, and his musings on Christian service will warm their hearts.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Beginning with the premise that the "essential identity of every Christian and of all Christians taken together is Christ himself," the author sets out to find Christ-like examples in the contemporary world. Locating, spending time with, and interviewing ordinary people who demonstrate their remarkable faith in extraordinary ways, Fickett provides a collective portrait of the "Living Christ." Profiles of a trucker's chaplain, a priest who ministers to and often heals the chronically ill, a fast-food worker who experiences apparitions, a missionary who rescues females enslaved as prostitutes in Thailand, Pope John Paul II, and three evangelical pastors in Iran mirror Christ's multiple roles in the Gospels as a wayfarer, a healer, a man of prayer, a liberator, a prophet, and a martyr. Steeped in New Testament parallels, these inspirational stories help confirm a basic tenet of Christianity: the manifestation of Christ in every human being. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1 edition (March 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385495862
• ISBN-13: 978-0385495868
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,449,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harold Fickett is a full-time writer and the author of novels, biographies, and works of spirituality, including "The Holy Fool", "The Living Christ", "Dancing with the Divine", and forthcoming biography of Albert Schweitzer. Fickett has collaborated with Charles Colson on several books, including the contemporary classics "Loving God" and "How Now Shall We Live?" He is also a contributing editor of Godspy (www.godspy.com), where he writes columns on world Christianity and spirituality.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Christianity, February 16, 2007

By 

Keith Dahlberg (Kellogg, ID USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Living Christ: The Extraordinary Lives of Today's Spiritual Heroes (Hardcover)

Harold Fickett has chosen six people from different tasks whom he believes best exhibit true Christian life and service, giving an overview of each with a more detailed narrative example of what each does. I was most impressed with the man who ministers to big-rig truck drivers, and with Miss Lauran Bethell, whose forte is rescuing prostitutes from slave-like work conditions. Miss Bethel and I worked near each other in the Thailand field of American Baptist missions, and I think Mr. Fickett portrays her very well. (She is now overseeing work similar to her "New Life" hostel, world-wide.)
Fickett's concept of true worship through service is, in my opinion, far more Biblical than lifting one's hands in praise hymns in a megachurch congregation of five thousand people.
Keith Dahlberg

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome lives, January 1, 2011

By 

L. C. Manning - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Living Christ: The Extraordinary Lives of Today's Spiritual Heroes (Hardcover)

This is a terrific book about people who have served and made an extraordiary difference in the lives of others.